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Topic: On Parents (Read 9373 times)

A reader, who wishes to remain anonymous, sent me this and wondered if I considered it suitable for posting in the Cave of Doom. I do, and so, here it is:

Quote

If there is one thing I think a teenager needs to seriously consider, it is this:

Your parents are not smarter than you. You probably have better eyesight, reflexes, endurance and in many cases, physical strength than they.

There is one main reason, among others, that you should listen to advice from your parents--even as you assume increasing measures of independence from them...

Your parents are far more experienced than you. (Even discounting the somewhat different youth culture in which they grew up.) Often that experience was hard won and can be a great asset to you. Do not throw that away in your understandable quest for independence. (BTW, if you still have them, grandparents are basically parents on steriods--but you usually have to ask them for their advice. Do that.)

A secondary reason, if you still need one, is that your parents (and grandparents) are among the likely few people you know who will tell you the truth--despite it not being what you want to hear. That is a rare thing--it is far, far easier to find folk who will happily tell you what you want to hear.

To which I can only add: This is a forum for discussion and education about preparing for emergencies. Parents, in general, share a couple of qualities when it comes to their children. First, they have experienced, and survived, more emergencies than their children, for the simple reason that one of the duties of parents is seeing to it that their kids don't have to face too many emergencies. Second, they would far prefer to educate their children about facing emergencies than actually make them face them.

Hey, younger counter-part of 4+4 here. Nice thing on the asking parents and grandparents for advice instead of goin' alone.

I go to a Catholic school and the Bible says that the animals are our servants but we have to take care of them in return..... fair enough. Almost all of my friends hunt,except for two. And loved the thrill of gettin' a deer,elk of antelope bagged. But there are some anti-hunting, PETA supportin' people in my school. Grrrrrr! Ahhh well. Iowa has a law that you can't own a gun till I'm 18, and here I'm 4 years younger than 18. That's just makes me sad!

Hello, young counter-part of 4+4 here. Thank you very much. I am looking forward to learning from all ya guys. As a teenager, what do ya think I need to prep for anything to happen?

Everything.

But, you don't have to do it all at once

First of all, be physically fit. That will do more to keep you alive and well throughout your life than everything else. Don't partake of all the things you already know you shouldn't partake of.

Things you can start learning (I'm still learning, myself) include:

First aidCommunications - ham radioCamping and associated skills, including land navigation (without a GPS), wilderness survival, shelter building, food preparation under austere conditions, finding and making drinkable water.Home and auto repair. Basic electrical and electronic repair, and computer progreamming.Clothing repair (replacing buttons, sewing up minor rips, etc, as a minimum)Cooking - it's easy to follow a recipe, but by following recipes you can learn a lot about cooking from scratch, with exuberance.Animal husbandry - get a pet (fish don't really count)Food production - grow something to eat

Learn a trade - even if you become a professional, a trade is a good thing to know (anyone want a spaceship designed? How about a network mangled? A house built?)

Learn a couple of languages (the earlier, the better) - Spanish or Mandarin would probably be valuable in the future. French or German? Not so much.

Learn how to learn, and love doing it. Learn something that has little practical use (Art history, music of the Italian Renaissance, pre-columbian textile arts).

Get a good education. What used to be called a 'Liberal Education', although these days it's pretty reactionary: English, Geography, History (World and American, but don't bother if the textbook is written by a guy named Zimm), Mathematics (through calculus), sciences including general chemistry (with lab), classical physics (with lab), biology (with lab). The so-called sciences that attempt to synthesize knowledge (ecology, earth sciences, climate sciences, etc are nonsense). Never take a class (or anyone in a class seriously) called X-studies (womans, chicano, black, earth, etc). Like sociology, undergraduate psychology and the like, it's not a real science and just a way to pay someone to indoctrinate you (we'll indoctrinate you for FREE!).

And don't rely on just school to educate you: Learn to ask questions of yourself, and how to find the answers, yourself. Don't take "I don't know" for an answer, take it as a challenge to find out. Why does a light go on when you flip a switch? Why does a cellphone work? What happens after I flush the toilet? How is carpeting made, a book printed, food moved from the field to the table (and whats in it).

Like I said, you don't have to do it all at once. Get back to us next week

Do I treat Glocks like I treat my lawn mowers? No, I treat them worse. I treat my defensive weapons like my fire extinguishers and smoke detector - annual maintenance and I expect them to work when needed

I second Doc as a general piece of good advice, but let's narrow it down just a bit to start with, shall we? The first things you should prep for would the the things you think might be the most likely emergencies you and your family could face. Live in tornado country? This about that. What about blizzards? You get those, along with power outages, maybe? In fact, do you get power outages for any reason where you are? If so, think about what you might need to ride out a blackout of two days. Or three days. Or a week.

You get the idea. Make a list. Prioritize it by putting the most likely emergencies at the top, lesser down below. If you wish, post what you come up with here. If anybody has any good ideas to offer, I'm sure they will. And rest assured, nobody will snark at you for what you post here.

Younger counter-part of 4+4 here. Thank you so much a thousand times!!! Ya give me so much to think about in ways it doesn't seem over whelming.

In high school next year, I'm planning to take metal shop and photography along with my required classes. The reason I like metal shop so much is because I love to tinker around with metal and it is hot all the time and I love the sound of clanging metal.

I really like your advice on growing somethin'. This summer I grew herbs and it was an almost perfect success (maybe not) Tryin' to learn more about herbs such as their medicinal use.

Oh yeah, on New Years power outage for almost half the night, caused by a drunk driver knocking over a power pole. Took out half the town's power!!! Lookin' forward to talking and learning from ya.

Welcome to the board...you'll keep us young...at least in thought...yes please do post what you have learned...we're not to old to learn from You my friend...and about the shop class, AWESOME...you live in an era where it doesn't matter if you are a boy or a girl....When I was a young teen, "they" decided that all girls had to take a semester of shop classes and the boys had to take a semester of home economics classes...Our poor shop teacher was an older man, who was very uncomfortable around a bunch of girls...and made it very CLEAR that he thought girls didn't have any business in shop classes...to dangerous he said...But after an organized "mock" strike on him from us girls...and he realized that we really were interested in what he could teach us...he settled down and taught us some very neat things....metal shop was most fasinating...we held our piece of metal to the forge and hammered and turned out some pretty neat things...and we used tin snips and cut out circles to make hammered ladels...and learned to use the wood lathe to make spoons...and I even got to make a baseball bat! hahaha! That old man eventually took great pride in what we were turning out...to this day, one of my favorite things to do is use the scroll saw and make neat wooden things...Again please keep us posted on what you are learning...and good luck...you need a forum name of your own to distinguish you by......

Another thing is to learn how to make and manage money. Something I had to learn the hard way, and am still working on.

^ Ah, that is very wise. It is not enough to make money. It must be managed. My oldest son made $10,000 his senior year in high school. (Actually more, but not all the tips were reported.) He blew it all, mostly on some stupid vehicle choices. My daughter (his younger sister) is a sophomore in college now, is paying her own way through, has zero student loans and nearly $5K in the bank. Guess which one is going to be the executor of my will?

BTW, my oldest son does have some redeeming characteristics. What he's good at, he's very, very good at. It's just that for everything else, he's very very bad at. Balance is a good thing ...

Younger counter-part of 4+4 here. Thanks for the tips on gettin' an email address Silverdeth and Amisheggpicker. Mr. Bill is tryin' to work things out on me gettin' an account with the same address, but I'm also talking with my parents now about a hotmail or gmail account.

I currently have three jobs: Housecleaning (meaning vacuuming the carpets and stairs, dusting on top of windows and door frames) for a lady who has a disease that keeps her from doin' these things; babysitting for the Eastern Star Organization; babysitting for an 8-year-old boy.

All the electronics I own I paid for with my own money including a Wii, PS3, Nintendo DS, and my tracfone and all of my minutes, and games. It feels good to know that I saved up and waited instead of gettin' it right off the bat of askin'. When I was at wal-mart payin' for my Wii, the check out lady noticed it was me payin' for it in ones, fives, tens, and twentys, and she said she was proud of me that I was payin' for it. She said that I would probably take care of it more cause I spent my own money, not my parents than most kids who got for Christmas.

Stephen, good advice. I'm saving money in a cd account, but my parents have been investing for me, now maybe I should too.

The end of the school year comes closer, the anticipation for eight grade graduation comes closer. As I get into high school, what should I do, for the school has many social issue problems (illegal substances, race problems, and high instances of suicide). I worry, Cause I go to a protected private school which is very small, for we don't have those problems like the public schools. I look forward to hearin' from ya.

As I get into high school, what should I do, for the school has many social issue problems (illegal substances, race problems, and high instances of suicide).

I have some thoughts, but I think I'll defer to those whose age might place them a bit closer to the high school experience than I am. It's 46 years since I was in a high school, and the year I graduated the Beatles were just becoming huge.

Another thing is to learn how to make and manage money. Something I had to learn the hard way, and am still working on.

I'll second this. Used to be, it was at least hinted on in home ec, but most schools seem to have cut practical courses like that.

I don't understand how we can consider a student to have successfully completed high school without understanding how to draw up a monthly budget, amortize a simple loan, or sketch out a retirement savings plan. I don't think it's necessary to know how to balance a checkbook anymore, but that was more about knowing how much money you had than planning how to use it, and a computer can do the former far more efficiently than you can. It's the latter, the judgment calls, that students need to be prepared for. $20,000 or $30,000 a year sounds like a staggering amount of money... until you have to factor in loan payments, rent, utilities, food, all those things that you never had to worry about before.

How about a one-year course that consists of a semester of personal finance, followed by a course on civics?

... The end of the school year comes closer, the anticipation for eight grade graduation comes closer. As I get into high school, what should I do, for the school has many social issue problems (illegal substances, race problems, and high instances of suicide). I worry, Cause I go to a protected private school which is very small, for we don't have those problems like the public schools. I look forward to hearin' from ya.

I don't envy you. Two semi-contradictory thoughts:

1. Friends matter a lot short term. That works both ways--good & bad. Make it work for the good. Go for quality over quantity. Always.

2. Friends don't matter, long term. My high school graduating class was over 500 students. To this day, I don't know if any of them is alive or dead. (Well, there was one who died shortly after graduation.) Do not try to change who you are to fit in with people that 5 years from now won't care about you, nor you for them. It ain't worth it. (BTW, family does matter long term.)

Younger Counter-part of 4+4 here. Hmmmmm.... I'll think about that. Cause some of friends are turning into self-centered freaks. Ha Ha! Some girls are turning into divas who care about clothes and the nastiest perfumes and too much make-up!!! Yuck!!

Stephen, good advice. I'm saving money in a cd account, but my parents have been investing for me, now maybe I should too.

There is more to it then checking, savings and CDs and even more then stocks and bonds, gold and silver. You need compounding interest. Right now you have a huge advantage over us. If you start saving now and NEVER touch it, you don't have to put nearly as much away as I do to have the same amount for retirement, even if you put it in a regular savings account.

I once heard a millionaire describing how easy it was to become a millionaire.

Basically he said something along the lines of get a part-time job, where you work 8 hours a week (say, on Saturday). Even at minimum wage (which was a lot less back then) if you simply put the money into a bank account and DIDNT TOUCH IT, and worked at it for 20 years (no vacations, holidays, etc) you'd have a megabuck..

Working one day a week extra isn't that bad (really). Of course, a million isn't what it used to be, but it's still quite worthwhile.

Do I treat Glocks like I treat my lawn mowers? No, I treat them worse. I treat my defensive weapons like my fire extinguishers and smoke detector - annual maintenance and I expect them to work when needed

Younger Counter-part of 4+4 here. Hmmmmm.... I'll think about that. Cause some of friends are turning into self-centered freaks. Ha Ha! Some girls are turning into divas who care about clothes and the nastiest perfumes and too much make-up!!! Yuck!!

Bad news: The only thing unusual is that you have noticed it, and are unimpressed...

Younger counter-part of 4+4 here. Don't worry Silverdeth, I know. Yeah, Drang only two of my friends aren't self-centered. Great advice ER Doc about putting money aside. I'll do that with one of my jobs. I already have over $150 saved up since Christmas, and I'll put about 50 bucks into my CD that I have already.

Wax museum comin' up. Eighth and fifth graders will be portraying gods, goddesses, heroes and other people in Greek mythology. Fifth graders doin the Olympians and eighth gets the minor gods, goddesses, deities, and heroes. I'm doin Nemesis, goddess of revenge and retribution. Costume ordered already. Along with props pf a Clash of the Titans sword and pretty sweet hourglass. My parents are helping me build the backdrop using a refrigerator box. It will be fun!!!!

I'm in high-school one tip that i do have is to be yourself don't try to fit in or you'll find the wrong crowd quickly. Also on the money side I took a Dave Ramsey financial peace university its $100 for the package but think of it as an investment i look at money different now that i have taken it.